(Weekly Column)
The field of contemptible anti-gay activists has long been overcrowded, like a room full of teenagers frenetically rushing a concert stage. In this cacophony of crazy it is quite a feat to rise above the din. Yet radio host and Mission America President Linda Harvey is making a name for herself by fast becoming the most homophobic woman in the nation.
Unlike her more sophisticated counterparts, Harvey is a zealot without a filter who appears unable to finesse her fanaticism. She is outright paranoid of an imagined gay menace that in her diseased mind is lurking to corrupt children on every street corner. For example, Harvey’s latest screed warns naïve mothers about the “threat” of openly gay doctors and nurses treating their children.
“There are a few homosexual doctors treating kids, there are far more nurses, LPNs, technicians and other health care workers in these lifestyles so you may want to consider writing a letter that you file with your pediatrician that should your child ever be hospitalized, you do not want your child to be treated or cared for by one of these members of the Children’s Hospital gay employees group except in the case of an emergency situation.”
Harvey is also opposed to openly LGBT schoolteachers and claimed on her website that that, “These teachers then become role models, in-house activists, and possible confidants for students who want to start homosexual behavior. Student molestation becomes a real risk.”
The Mission America leader is so obsessed with bashing LGBT people that she even took a swipe while commenting on the mortgage crisis: “But back to our main point, probably few such households are homosexually-headed, because few homosexuals want to settle down to any kind of permanence.” (Has she seen the latest census figures or actually met any gay couples?)
Harvey is so extreme that she believes she has the right to control the lives of LGBT people: “Our President has launched a broad scale attack on traditional values,” Harvey said on her radio program. “If homosexuals and transgenders are allowed to live and love as they see fit, we would have a whole societal mess on our hands, which is already starting to happen in some areas.”
Exactly what does Harvey mean when she says, “If homosexuals and transgenders are allowed to live and love as they see fit?” Is Harvey suggesting that she and her fundamentalist friends have the right to dominion over our existence? Does she think that she has the authority to deny us life, liberty, and freedom?
Harvey answered these questions at a March 2010 speaking appearance in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. At the event she flat out lied about Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill and even expressed her support for the deadly legislation: “The fact they are re-criminalizing homosexuality is (a) their business, (b) it is patronizing for white Westerners to be telling these folks — they are seeing George Soros funded gay groups going into Uganda. They are all through the schools, lots of promotion to kids. Poor kids, poor kids are being offered money and favors and gifts to have sex. That’s exploitation. That’s sex trafficking. And it’s being done mostly homosexually. By Western homosexuals coming in and trying to get involved in Uganda.”
It is absolutely abominable and shameless that Harvey peddled such unsubstantiated propaganda about LGBT westerners coming to Uganda to exploit children. In reality, the Westerners who are actually going to this nation are fundamentalist Christians who are exporting homophobia in an effort to take over Uganda though business contracts and the funneling of US taxpayer money into this repressive, rogue state.
More disturbing, it seems that Harvey thinks it’s okay to terrorize, imprison, and even murder LGBT people in any country that would allow it. One wonders if she would deem it a local matter if the legislation in Uganda were called the “Kill the Christians Bill.” And one also questions if her support for such brutal punishment would apply to American states had they the ability to pass such punitive anti-gay laws.
Finally, Harvey is so mean-spirited that she even gives succor to school bullies by attacking Dan Savage’s laudable It Gets Better campaign: “It’s supposed to encourage kids, that’s great,” says Harvey. “Encourage kids, say, you know if you’re having trouble, you’re getting bullied, you feel despaired, don’t give up. That would be a worthy goal if they stop there. But no they tag on to it approval of homosexuality and the implication that anybody who objects is just like those bullies out there and they’re leading you or others into suicide. That’s just wrong, it’s evil, it’s dark…”
If one wants to witness evil and darkness, look no further than the ignorant mind, cruel heart, and empty soul of Linda Harvey.
We need Dan Savage to help come up with a Santorum-esque definition for Linda.
I think this woman is a total closet case. No doubt about it.
[...] read more here [...]
the more i hear about these aging baby boomer bigots the more i wonder if they are dealing with alzheimers or some sort of homicidal mental illness. Her whole justification is pedophilia so she should go after those monsters, not gay people.
Peter (50)
I’ve never seen anyone use such a blanket of scripture to cover a point not made. You need to study the word to rightly divide it. What do you do with Romans 1:26-28 that says, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” What do you do with that scripture, Peter? I hope your website moderator does not remove my post here like he did two others of mine that are gone. I hope he’s not so narrow minded that he feels he has to edit innocuous comments he doesn’t agree with.
Susan (55)
I won’t speak for Peter (50) but I’ll tell you what should be done with that oh-so-often-repeated-verse of yours – it should be ‘taken into context’, just like I Cor. 14:34-36, which says:
“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
I Timothy 2:11-15:
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing.”
Certainly, Joyce Meyer, Cindy Jacobs, Marilyn Hickey and so on could not be the evangelists they are if the above verses were applied literally… to say nothing of the women in secular America who have ‘authority over men’. Instead, these verses were migrated to the ‘well you should take those verses in context to the time they were written’ column, instead of the ‘These are the literal words of God and must be applied as written!’ column.
In other words, if these verses which affect YOUR rights as a 21st century women must be ‘taken into context’, then your verse must be looked at the same way.
Ozymandias71 (56)
Well, what is your opinion of the context of Romans 1:26-28? You don’t even offer that, sir; you only embark upon a digression using other scriptures that have nothing to do with my comment. Study the Word to rightly divide it.
The context of Romans 1:24-32 is the unnatural retrogression and sinful condition of man which necessitates the gospel. These perversions had entered into Greek life and they brought Greece down to the dust. This was the condition of Greece and other nations that have gone the same way. Unfortunately, this is also the condition of the United States today.
There are several rules to follow when attempting to interpret the Bible. 1) The overall purpose of the Bible. 2) To whom the Scripture is addressed. 3) The immediate context before and after the passage observed. 4) Discover what the original says. 5) Interpret the Bible literally.
A good rule to remember when studying the Bible is “All Scripture is not to me, but all Scripture is for me.”
Yes, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:34, ‘Let your women keep silence in the churches,” but notice the context — it’s only in reference to speaking in tongues. God uses women when he can’t find a man to take her place. God used women like Deborah, Queen Esther, Ruth and others. And in the New Testament, Phoebe was a deaconess in the church in Cenchreae. You can find more about the role of women in the church here:
http://articles.ochristian.com/article15622.shtml
We have to go over to God’s side and agree with Him if we are to walk together with Him. Study His Word so you know how to agree with God. Amos 3:3
Susan,
Your quotations have several flaws. God (aka your sky-friend) also tells you not to eat shellfish in Leviticus. If you eat shellfish, you do not have the right to tell us which bible quotations we should follow. If you really want to make a case, read the original text (or as original as we can get)
Emma (58)
First, God is not my sky-friend. He’s my savior. And I am not “trying” to make a case. God has already done that – much better than I ever could. If you choose not to believe Him, that is up to you. But one day, you will stand before Him.
Prove it, Susan.
Prove it’s not so, Evan Hurst.
Susan,
What exactly proves that I will be standing before anything when I die? Also, what suggests it will be your god and not Zeus, or Ahura Mazda or Brahma, ad nauseum? What makes yours better? (BTW, you did steal him from the Jews, you know.)
By a case, I mean, prove your point.
Susan, you lack basic skills of belief. Such as, the burden of proof is on the believer. That being said, explain to me why your all-loving God allows genocide.
The Word of God stands. The Word of God is proof. If you choose not to believe, that is up to you. (And BTW, Jesus came to the Gentiles because the Jews rejected Him – just like you’re doing.) If you don’t want Him, He won’t make you take Him.
Susan said “But one day, you will stand before Him.”.
I fart in your god’s face.
Your word of God is something that a bunch of nomadic goatherders thought of a while ago. It has since been added to by a bunch of other people. It isn’t even consistent. It does not count as viable proof.
That being said, explain how God’s plan includes genocide.
Susan said “If you don’t want Him, He won’t make you take Him.”.
LOL, yes, he’ll just threaten you with eternal torture for not taking him, that’s not an attempt to force you to do something against your will, no, not at all.
Your Jesus is a monster.
Emma (63)
Would you “choose” a God that controls you/people? He loves you enough to let you make the choice to accept Him or reject Him. He even lets you choose where you want to spend eternity.
Priya Lynn (67)
This is God’s universe. He made it. He can make the rules. No monster would die in your place for your sins.
If I remember correctly, your god says that I go to hell forever for being lesbian. I don’t call that a choice.
-
I still don’t get why you think your god allows genocide. What kind of all powerful, all loving being is that?
Susan (57):
Ah, so you dance around the issue, on one hand saying ‘well the verses YOU mention must be taken in context, but the verses I mention must be taken literally.’ Yeah, okay. Once again, that’s exactly what I pointed out, which you ignored.
The two verses I quoted have been considered ‘clobber passages’ against the woman’s suffrage movement since it began in the 1800′s. They were absolutely considered ‘inerrant Word of God’… and it was only with the passage of time and the granting of rights to women IN SPITE of the moralizing hysteria of the day that those ‘clobber verses’ became ‘taken in context’.
My opinion of Romans 1:26-28? I already posted it, but let’s be clear:
Romans 1:26-28 – take it into context.
I Cor. 14:34-36 – take it into context.
I Timothy 2:11-15 – take it into context.
And yes, there are context issues with Romans 1:26-28 – especially when compared to the rest of Romans 1.
Emma (70)
Yes, it’s your choice. God is holy and just, and as such, He must judge unrighteousness and sin. All have sinned. I am a sinner, you are a sinner. He made His creation “male and female.” If you reject God’s plan and his provision for you to escape hell, you are making your own choice to go to hell. Just like if you decide (your choice) not to follow the law, you pay the price.
Logic and reason do not work on religious people, otherwise there would be no religious people.
Let’s quit wasting our time and let the god-bots say their piece and go away. Those of us in touch with reality have better things to do.
Emma (70) In regards to your genocide question: reread my post (63). What do you expect God to do to disallow genocide? Control people? What kind of a God would he be to do that? If He never gives people or you the chance (in this life) to prove that you FREELY love, worship, and obey Him, He would not be a loving God. He would be a God who FORCES you to love and obey Him. He would be a dictator God with slaves.
God has a plan. God wanted fellowship with man when he placed Adam and Eve in the garden. They brought sin into the picture. Because God is holy, He must judge sin. Someone has to pay for sin because God cannot tolerate sin; He is holy. He provided a way to for man to escape punishment of sin through the death of His perfect son, Jesus. He was the PERFECT sacrifice. Jesus paid for my sin and yours so we can come before a holy God. God wants to accomplish His original purpose with man – fellowship. He wants a creature who is a free moral agent and who CHOOSES to worship and serve Him eternally.
My opinion of Romans 1:26-28? I already posted it, but let’s be clear:
Romans 1:26-28 – take it into context.
Ozymandias71 (71)
Yes, let’s take it in context and literally. Thank you. And remember: “All Scripture is not to me, but all Scripture is for me.”
Romans 1:24-28
24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Reese M – Oh you’re absolutely correct. I don’t expect anything from Susan other than the godspeak version of ‘I’m not listening! I’m not listening! La-la-la-la!’
However, these sorts of debates *do* serve a useful purpose – there are a lot more people who read these blogs than comment, and (once again) they are seeing the contrast between the Fundies rinse-and-repeat responses and those of us debating them. More and more, these ‘silent viewers’ are sitting back and saying ‘Wow, if these fundies were slobbering at the mouth about *my* rights, boy I’d be mad too!’
Susan, the only other thing I’m going to say to you is this – you’re a terrible ‘ambassador of Christ’ whose ‘literal-only-for-Gays-but-don’t-touch-MY-rights’ mangling of scripture is completely transparent.
We’ve heard it all before. And it’s a false ideology.
Susan…here’s your challenge. I’ve yet to have one so called bible believing christian answer it.
Explain the presence and meaning of three word:
For this cause…
Susan.
There is no such thing as God – if there is, show me the proof.
Sorry to all you beleivers out there, but as long as fundie’s such as Linda Harvey and Herman Cain keep asking for scientific ‘proof’ that homosexuality is immutable and inborn, then I shall keep on asking for proof of the existence of God (and indeed Jesus – no proof he existed either!).
I love religious people. When you ask them to show proof of their god they always come back with the standard prove he doesn’t exist. One of the stupidest arguments ever because you can’t prove a negative. That’s like asking me to prove that leprechauns don’t go around and grant people wishes.
Susan said “This is God’s universe. He made it. He can make the rules.”.
Morality doesn’t work that way Susan. Parents can’t beat, abuse and murder their child just because they made it. You can’t morally set your dog on fire just because you own it.
If your god told you to rape an innocent baby with a broken bottle and set it on fire and said that because he makes the rules that is going to be moral, would you say that is the moral thing to do?
No christian I’ve encountered ever says yes which would be the only correct answer if morality comes from your god. They say “God wouldn’t do that”, “God is perfect and therefore cannot act in an imperfect way”, and so on – they deny that their god makes the rules, that morality comes from their god in this situation because they know their god saying so wouldn’t make such actions moral. They know in their hearts that morality is based on harm and culpability and that the baby is innocent and not culpable for anyone else’s wrongdoing so it would be wrong to rape it and set it on fire. When faced with a moral dillema you ultimately will acknowledge that morality stands apart from your god by refusing to say your god’s mere sayso makes a terrible act moral.
Susan said “No monster would die in your place for your sins.”.
Hitler was a vegeterian, that’s a moral thing to do, but it certainly doesn’t make Hitler moral. One of the ironclad rules of justice is that the punishement should fit the crime. Your Jesus eternally tortures people for the harmless act of gayness, or for mere thoughts, such as not believing in him. He applies infinite punishment to finite, trivial, non-crimes. There is no more monstrous act that could be conceived of – your god is a monster regardless of whether or not he takes time out from his sadism to pet puppies.
Susan said “God is holy and just”.
No just being would ever eternally torture people for not believing in him when he’s given them no evidence he exists and they are behaving exactly as he knew they would when he created him. Your god eternally tortures people for being exactly as he intended them to be. A just god that does that cannot exist any more than a square circle can exist. Your god is a sadistic monster.
Susan said “If you reject God’s plan and his provision for you to escape hell, you are making your own choice to go to hell.”.
That makes as much sense as saying if someone pulls a gun on me and says “Your money or your life” and I run thinking I can escape and he kills me that I have made the choice to die. For something to be a choice it has to be entered into freely, without coercion or force. Many of us choose to have nothing to do with your god’s heaven or hell, but your god will drag us to hell anyway – that’s his choice, not ours, your god is a monster.
Susan said “What do you expect God to do to disallow genocide? Control people? What kind of a God would he be to do that?”.
He would be a loving and just god if he did that, just like a loving parent doesn’t allow their child to bully other children and directs their child when they show poor judgement.
Susan said “If He never gives people or you the chance (in this life) to prove that you FREELY love, worship, and obey Him, He would not be a loving God. He would be a dictator God with slaves.”.
There are two problems with that idea. First is your god threatens people with eternal torture if they don’t love, worship, and obey him – that’s not allowing people to prove they’ve freely made this choice, that’s the most powerful sort of psychological coercion one can exert. Secondly, there is no such thing as absolute freedom or absolute free will. You can’t walk through walls or fly to the next galaxy to see its wonders, there are limits to your freedom and free will and yet you will acknowledge that you still have free will despite such boundaries on your free will. Society prevents you from doing all manner of things and yet you don’t consider yourself a slave, boundaries on your actions don’t make you a slave. By the same token your god putting the same sort of restrictions on you that a just society does wouldn’t eliminate your free will or make you a slave, you’d still be free to do an infinite number of things as you choose, just not committ genocide or walk through walls. If your god loving you means he allows you to committ genocide, what does that say about his “love” for those he allows you to slaughter? Doesn’t have much love for them, does he? Why would he favour you in this way? A just society or a just god balances the freedoms of all people. A dictator allows some to prosper while killing others.
Susan said “Someone has to pay for sin because God cannot tolerate sin. He is holy.”.
But that’s not true, he does tolerate sin, horrible infinite sin, he allows genocide. Your god is all powerful and all knowing. That means he knew Adam and Eve would sin when he made them and there’d be all this evil in this world. If he truly didn’t want it to be this way, he wouldn’t have made the world this way, the world is exactly as he wants it to be. Your god wants the world to be full of evil and genocide and the devil. He knew this is how it would turn out when he made it and had the power to make it some other way but didn’t – your god is a monster.
Susan said “He provided a way to for man to escape punishment of sin through the death of His perfect son, Jesus.”
But he DIDN’T. Your god is still going to eternally torture people for the harmless “sin” of gayness and not believing in him. He HASN’T (temporarilty and trivially) died for anyone’s sins, he’s still punishing “sins”.
Susan said “He was the PERFECT sacrifice. Jesus paid for my sin and yours so we can come before a holy God.”.
Here’s another problem with your religion – its very foundation is gross injustice. If a mother told you “Johnny was such a terrible brat today I severely beat Jane so I could forgive Johnny.” you’d think she was insane, a monster and yet that is just the sort of action you praise your god for. If Ghandi were present at Charles Manson’s trial and Manson was declared guilty and Ghandi said “Punish me instead and that will absolve Manson of guilt.” everyone would say “No F-ing way, an innocent person can’t absolve a guilty person of their wrongdoing – that’s crazy” and yet that is the insane foundation of your religion. Its nuts, its unjust, its monstrous. Stop being blinded by the banality of evil, take several steps back and look objectively at your religion and its theology – its evil to the core.
I’m glad I stopped believing in the Bible as any kind of moral guide. You can make the Bible support pretty much anything as long as you pick and choose–Susan embraces the few anti-gay verses while ignoring the many anti-woman passages all the while claiming to be some kind of literalist. The idea that so much of our history has been enslaved by this ancient book of myths is tragic. That it continues to be true is foolish.
And i’m still waitimng for an answer. Three words Susan,
For this cause…
What do they mean.
I would like Susan to give us materially verifiable evidence that her holy book (Buybull I like to call it) is “the Word of God”. What an arrogant assumption! Susan, what makes your holy book any different than the Koran or the Book of Mormon? Apply your understandably rigorous skepticism to these tomes to your own scriptures, and you will come up with the same conclusion that many of us ex-christians have already come to: there is no materially verifiable evidence that the god of the Bible exists, only the anecdotal faith “experiences” of his adherents. When you can provide real evidence for me that your god is real and that the Bible is true, I will re-embrace christianity in a heartbeat. Not testimonies, Susan, real evidence that can be tested.
I will wait patiently as you prepare it..
And I am still waiting too, Susan.
If you want me to live according to your ‘god’ and his rules, then prove to me he exists and I will gladly devote my life to him.
Otherwise, shut up.
Peter Hargmier (85) I never asked you to live according to my God. Where did I ask you to do that? Make up your own mind. And I don’t have to shut up. This is a free blog. You just don’t like anyone disagreeing with your views. You sound hateful. Let’s see if your moderator disallows my post because I say you sound hateful. Anyone who disagrees with the homosexual view is spewing hate; but it doesn’t work the other way, does it? Go ahead and tell me to shut up, again, Peter. I will forgive you.
Ozymandias (77) I’ve never made any connection between what God says about homosexuality and compared it to women’s rights. You and others have only done that. They are two separate things. God has things to say about women, and he has things to say about sins.
Priya Lynn (81) You’re really off the beaten path with your argument that has nothing to do with my words you quoted. That’s what people do when they don’t know how to debate logically. They ramble.
Susan
You’ve had 7 days. So, still no proof then?
Thought not.
Oh, and I neither want nor require your forgiveness.
Susan, you lot lie about, defame, demonize, and advocate death not only for GLBTs, but for anyone different from you, yet Peter is the hateful one. It doesn’t matter though. I don’t hate you. I pity you, as I can do nothing more here than witness as your thinly-veiled, impotent rage consumes you to the point where you must antagonize everyone here.
Susan, the best thing you could discover is that there really is a higher power, and it’s bigger than a god. It’s a combination that includes reason, logic, and empirical evidence. Wake up. Here we are in the 21st century surrounded by a vast array of reality-based educational opportunities, and yet millions of people opt for religious indoctrination as the superior choice. Amazing.
Martin Luther said:
“Reason is the Devil’s greatest w***e; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious w***e; she is a prostitute, the Devil’s appointed w***e; w***e eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom… Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism… She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets.”
You know your belief system is in big trouble when you’re forced to invalidate the entire concept of reason in order for those beliefs to survive.
Richard Rush (91) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; I Corinthians 1:27
The Word of God Stands.
Peter Hargmier (89) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 53:1
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
Susan
Your god DELIBERATELY creates intersex babies; look up Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (male sex chromosomes, female genitalia). (And there ARE other conditions like this as well.)
Oh wait, you won’t look it up…because you don’t read anything other than the Bible. The reason that I LEFT Christianity (raised Southern Baptist) is because there are questions that neither the Bible nor Christianity can answer, despite the arrogance of that religion that it can!
And while you’re at it, tell me when you made a conscious, deliberate, decision to be attracted to the opposite sex. If heterosexuality isn’t a choice, then how can homosexuals choose to become heterosexual?
Hal(90) In no post on here did I lie, defame, demonize or advocate death for homosexuals. You won’t find that.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
PhillipJ (94) Maybe you need to find another Bible teacher. Quit putting your faith in man and put it in God.
And PhillipJ…
Give up religion and start a relationship with Jesus. He loves you.
Susan
Thank you for NOT answering my heterosexual choice question. Because you CANNOT…
And you have proven my point that Christianity cannot answer the question about what sex intersex children are.
I guess if I become a Christian just like you, Susan, intersex babies will no longer exist????
PhillipJ — Read the book of Ruth in the “Thru the Bible” series.
http://www.thruthebible.org/site/c.irLMKXPGLsF/b.4104233/k.BFE1/MP3_Download_of_5Year_Series.htm
It is a love story of redemption. You will see how the savior loves people and provides a way for an eternal life with Him.